


Bottomless Pit

by readbetweenthelines



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: But let's be honest superpowers would be awesome, Eventual Barry Allen/Leonard Snart - Freeform, Gen, Hurt!Barry, Hypoglycemia, Super-metabolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-07 01:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5438033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readbetweenthelines/pseuds/readbetweenthelines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, five times having a super-fast metabolism was a pain in the ass. And one time it wasn't so bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Caitlin & Cisco

1\. Caitlin & Cisco

It took quite a while to get the system working.

After the discovery that Barry needed to eat an astronomical _850 tacos_ in one day (and, as Caitlin made a point of reminding him, "That is just for calculation purposes, and if you decide to literally eat 850 tacos a day we'll be finding out pretty soon whether super-healing also translates into super fast artery clogging" Before giving Barry a starter pack of more than he ever needed to know about hypercholesterolemia), the S.T.A.R Labs team spent several (wasted) weeks trying to get Barry the calories the old fashioned way.

This turned out to be more trouble than it could possibly be worth:

"Umph-" A sudden pained grunt came over the comms. Not usually something to worry about, except when it didn't come from the comm system wired into Barry's Flash suit, but from Cisco's headset. Cisco, who Caitlin had seen leave the cortex less than 2 minutes ago to grab a quintuple order from  _Big Belly Burger_  that had just been delivered. In the corner of her eye, on a different screen, Caitlin could make out Barry facing off against two gunmen, one of whom had a hostage at Central City Bank. There was a small crowd of civilians gathered around, staring in no small amount of awe at the red streak that was flashing them out of the building one-by-one. He wasn't in any out-of-the-ordinary, imminent danger ( _and isn't that a weird thing to think,_ she mused), and even as she watched the last of the hostages disappeared in a blast of red, so Caitlin turned away from that screen and towards the one pointed at the entrance to S.T.A.R Labs.

"Cisco? Are you alright?" Right under the doorway she could just about make out the top of Cisco's head over a mountain of polystyrene boxes and "Big Belly Burger" paper bags. Even as she watched, one box (balanced precariously on top of the pile) started to tilt over. "Watch out-"

Too late.

The first burger falling triggered a massive cascade that sent half the pile falling out of Cisco's arms and onto the concrete. Burger buns went flying, and a splatter of tomato ketchup that would have given CCPD pause. The other half went with Cisco as he fell face first into a heap of lettuce and mayonnaise.

"Caitlin! Is everything okay? I heard something crash." Barry. He wasn't visible on the security feed from the bank any longer, and it looked like the criminals were hog-tied in the middle of the foyer of Central City Bank. Even as she watched, the doors were burst open by a squad of CCPD officers in riot gear.

Caitlin glanced quickly at the read-out from The Flash suit (no obvious trauma, blood pressure normal, body temperature normal, heart rate ...), and continued to scan it as she replied;

"Yes Barry, everything's fine. Cisco's just having a bit of a disagreement with gravity."

"Are you serious?!" Cisco' voice spluttered over the comms, even as Caitlin watched him pick himself up from the ground - a piece of tomato was stuck to the side of his face and he flicked it away onto the pile of rapidly congealing sauce underneath him. 

Her eyes lit upon Barry's blood-glucose readout -  _Damn it._  She leaned further towards the comm, "Barry you need to get back here, if you can. Your blood sugar is dangerously low again."

Barry made a noise to the affirmative, and Caitlin could almost hear the  _sigh_ of frustration. Barry's metabolism was enough of a strain on those of them that didn't have superpowers, Caitlin could only imagine what it was like to be so dependant on what must seem like a huge (figurative) crutch.

"I'll head back as soon as I can."

 

Caitlin paused, and thought for a second, and then smiled as she leaned into the mike again. "Cisco, I'm no physicist but even I can recognise a badly engineered fast food tower when I see one."

"What is this, 'make fun of Cisco' day?" Cisco grumbled through the speakers. But Caitlin saw the glance he threw towards the security camera she was watching through, and the slight nod that acknowledged -  _Yes, I heard it too._ "Barry, I hope you realise that the reality of you being a meta-human is slowly killing my childhood dreams. And my bank account." Caitlin grimaced, it was true - whenever Dr. Wells wasn't at S.T.A.R Labs Barry, Cisco and Caitlin had taken to trying to foot the food bill themselves. With painfully expensive results.

Despite his apparent frustration, Cisco gathered up the remaining (intact) boxes and the mostly salvageable bags. In a more good-natured tone he added; "Also my waistline. Did you know it obligatory that I taste-test some of the food every time we get a meta-sized delivery."

Caitlin tutted, and she knew Cisco could hear Barry chuckle over the comm even as the GPS in his suit showed him making a beeline back to S.T.A.R Labs.

"No one forced you to eat five packets of Red Vines last week Cisco, no matter how much you try and maintain that it was 'for science.'"

This time Barry laughed outright. Caitlin could see the grin on Cisco's face.

Lately Barry's irritation with his metabolism had been getting worse - they needed a better solution than hauling The Flash back immediately after he stopped a crime and making him eat the equivalent of 100 double-downs (although Caitlin staunchly disapproved of Cisco's measurement scale). It also couldn't be fun to be doing the eating - despite the jealously that Caitlin might possibly have felt at Barry's ability to enjoy as many sugary Jitters lattes as he wanted, one after the other, with no obvious consequences.

A flash of light announced Barry's arrival in the cortex. Along with a slightly disorientated looking Cisco, now bereft of Big Belly Burger merchandise. 

"Now, Barry-" Caitlin started, but Barry, cowl pushed back and hands now full of burger boxes, just blurred into a food-eating frenzy. In less than 5 seconds it was over, and his outline resolved again. Even Caitlin had to admit, the sight of the Flash, now lying across the floor and grinning lazily at her and Cisco, was rather funny (if a bit bizarre).

Cisco gave an exasperated sigh;

"Dude, seriously? I worked hard for those burgers, the least you could do would be to savour the fine cuisine."

Barry shrugged sheepishly and sat up halfway, his hair was stuck up oddly from the hood of the suit, and Caitlin could see colour coming back into his cheeks from the sudden calorie-dump.

"Sorry Cisco, I can't really help it, think of the hungriest you've ever been and times it by, like, a million." Now Barry sighed and looked slightly despondent again, "It's impossible, guys."

Cisco glanced across at Caitlin and she nodded at him; now was definitely the time. She grabbed a small foil-wrapped bar from the desk in front of her and stepped over to Barry. 

"It might not be as impossible as you think," She said, holding the bar out towards Barry. He glanced up at her, unconvinced, and then recognised the package she was holding. His eyes lit up.

"Is that-?" Caitlin nodded.

"Yes, newest model. It's still not up to the level we'd like, but it might be enough to cut down on those late-night runs back over here. But just to warn you-"

Before she knew what was happening, the energy bar was gone from her hand, and Barry was across the room rapidly drinking a bottle of water and coughing loudly. Repeatedly. Cisco, mirth in his eyes, walked over and thumped Barry lightly on the back.

Barry coughed again and looked down at the now empty wrapper in his hand, a look of mild betrayal on his face. Despite that, even more colour was returning to his face (which was now actually a little bit red -  _oops_ ) and the lack of buzzing from the bio-readout monitor indicated that for once Barry had acceptable blood glucose levels.

"For real? What the hell was in that!" He coughed again and eyed Caitlin accusingly.

Caitlin picked up a clipboard from the desk next to her.

"Well the main ingredient you can probably taste was the purified tuna extract, which we added to this version because-"

Barry's eyes widened in horror and he took a determined swig of the remains water from the bottle clutched in his hand.

"Tuna extract? In an energy bar! I swear some days you guys just do this to mess with me."

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Eddie

Chapter 2: Eddie Thawne

Things got easier after Cisco and Caitlin managed to refine the recipe for the energy bars (thankfully now a much more manageable cranberry flavour). Barry had fewer last minute refuels after crime scenes, and everyone’s bank balances thanked them for it. This meant it was more of an issue with Barry _remembering_ to eat those hard-earned calorie bars.

* * *

 

  
It was a Tuesday in Central City.

Only a day after Captain Cold and Heatwave made their first joint appearance in front of the entire CCPD, Barry was woken at 3am by an emergency call from S.T.A.R Labs. It turned out one superhero wasn't enough for the city that night, with two more robberies after the first one, followed by a call to Barry's day job at 7am to investigate the scenes he’s just left as the Flash. At least Joe gave him a sympathetic look, a coffee and a pat on the back when Barry arrived;

“Sorry Bear, if there’d been anyone else on duty you know I would have called them.” He leaned in closer, “If The Flash could give me a heads up on what happened here we can get  
this over with as quickly as possible.”

Barry rubbed a hand over his face and took the coffee.

“It's okay, Joe. What have we got?”

As soon as Barry returned to CCPD headquarters he was accosted by Singh – Apparently Snart had managed to meddle with his fingerprint records since his last escape from Iron Heights, and they couldn't send him down until without the records updated. Joy of joys. Snart was the last thing Barry needed that day, and he was still as smug as ever despite having no clue who Barry was (which was partly a massive relief).

“Looking a bit tired there, jailbait,” The man smirked, “Need someone to help you _cool down_?”

“What?!” Barry spluttered and almost dropped The ink pad he'd just pulled from his briefcase. Was Snart seriously _flirting_ with him?

The speedster put it down to a serious case of sleep deprivation, and carried on taking Captain Cold’s fingerprints, pointedly ignoring the smirk he could feel burning it's way into the top of his head.

By 12pm Barry was running on fumes, and had burned his way through all but one of the stock of protein bars he kept in the precinct. The centrifuge was on, he was simultaneously trying to write a report, analyse three blood samples and autoclave the growing pile of biohazard waste accumulating in his lab. It was not the perfect time for Eddie to walk in, holding another stack of what looked like a mix of analysis request forms and lab requisitions.

“Allen.” Barry set aside his pen, careful to return to normal speed before Eddie would have the chance to notice any wayward streaks of lightning. He turned to look at Eddie as the other man carefully placed his stack of papers on top of the last clear surface space in Barry's lab.

After Eddie’s last minute intervention in The Flash’s Captain Cold/Heatwave showdown last night Barry was feeling surprisingly generous towards Iris’s boyfriend, and Joe’s partner.. It had been nothing short of a shock when Eddie jumped in to save The Flash, and Barry wasn’t the type of person to hold a grudge against someone who didn't deserve it. He’d decided to put aside any bad feelings for now given the circumstances. Eddie was a decent person when given the chance, and it helped that he’d made a huge effort with Barry ever since first meeting him. Not that Barry had made that the easiest task.

He swivelled in his chair and turned to face Eddie, sparing a slightly longing glance at the last calorie bar sitting next to an empty coffee mug on his desk. Even the slight spinning of the chair left Barry reeling a little, dizzy. _Damn_ , he really needed a proper meal.

“Eddie, what’s up?”

The other man sighed and looked to one side.

“I'm really sorry, Barry. Joe let me know that you’ve been swamped all day and told me not to bother you if it's not urgent. But with all this Flash stuff, and what with the city having to accept that a super-powered superhero actually exists, which I'm still having a bit of a problem-“ Eddie shook his head, “Anyway, I know it’s been a busy day, but if you can find the time to fill these out-“

“It's okay, Eddie,” Barry smiled faintly and shook his head. Then stopped. Phew, _note to self: Moving head is not a good idea right now_. He tried to focus back on Eddie but now black spots were dancing across his vision. _For real? Right now?_ He needed to get Eddie out of here. “Um, just leave the stuff here, I’ll have it done and bring it down in no time.”

Eddie looked put out.

“Look, Barry. I know things have been strange recently, with me and you, and Iris, I mean.”

Barry started to shake his head again on reflex, then stopped abruptly as the movement made his vision blur even more. Barry gripped the edge of his seat with one hand, and tried to reach for the calorie bar with his other.

“No Eddie, that's fine, it's just-“

Barry had the bar in his hand, fumbling to open the wrapper.

“We keep glossing over the topic and dancing around it, but if we could just discuss-“

“This really isn't the best time, Ed-“

“-Everything, and get it all out in the open-“

“-die, if you just came back in half an hour, I swear.”

“- I just think that it would be more fair to Iris-“

Barry’s hands were shaking too much to open the calorie bar, what had been black spots a few moments ago was now a general blurring across his entire vision. The blue and yellow blur in front of him that was apparently Eddie stopped and said, more gently:

“Barry? Are you alright? Do you need me to-“

“No!” Barry said, more forcefully than intended. Then he gasped slightly as the sudden movement sent his shaking into overdrive. Eddie stopped talking, looking taken aback. “This just, really isn’t a good time Eddie, please, I just- we can talk later, I promise, I just need to get- something done.”

Eddie didn't look convinced, but he backed off. Moving away from Barry, and out towards the hallway.

“We need to talk about this at some point, Allen. For Iris’ sake, at least.” Eddie called over his shoulder as he left.

Barry only managed a grunt in response, as he gave up trying to open the wrapper. Instead, with his limbs apparently failing, as well as his vision, Barry found his phone and speed dialled Joe, before collapsing from his chair onto the floor.

As his head cracked, fairly painfully, against the tile Barry could faintly make out the sound of Eddie’s footsteps retreating down the stairs.

 _Perfect timing, Allen_ was Barry's last thought before he finally fell unconscious.

* * *

 

  
Several hours later, Barry woke to find a very disapproving S.T.A.R Labs team around his bed (a worried Joe behind them). He also had two missed calls from Iris, with a voicemail demanding what Barry had said to Eddie to make him mope around like a disappointed puppy (her words, not Barry’s).

To top it all off, Barry and Eddie never had time to finish that conversation, after an emergency call from the precinct announced Snart’s escape from his transport to Iron Heights. Who said deciding to become a superhero wasn't a great idea?

Just another Tuesday in Central City.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
